Stitch's Revenge: L'Equipe "Q-KAPS" Voyage to Bordeaux

It could've been, would've been, should've been worse than you would even know.

I ask you to take a moment and envision yourself in the following scenario:
You are a student, eager to take every opportunity you can to explore the world around you. You hear of an exciting opportunity to travel for a very small cost to a land that you have never visited. Gleefully, you and five companions purchase tickets aboard a ship that would take you across the ocean for a very low cost, thinking that though rooms aboard the ship are high in demand and expensive, you would make it work with what you had. As it turns out, you and your companions discover that unlike the third class ticket you thought you had purchased, you end up in a room on the level below the ship's boiler room, with one bed, one blanket, and two pillows to keep four people comfortably lodged for a night. Lucky enough, for your 17 euro purchase, you are given a port hole through which to view your lovely voyage. Malheureusement, it is so mind numbingly cold outside of your room that the poor porthole is covered with an inch of  fog, impairing your ability to view the fantastic life filled world outside.

You would think that such terrible conditions would've dampened the spirits of team Q-KAPS on their trip to Bordeaux this weekend. (Quincy, Keith, Ashley, Paisley, and Sara; L'Equipe Q-KAPS JeBeK is the name I just made up for the entire Davidson group in France) But of course, we made the most of our voyage, because even if Stitch's Revenge (the name of our nautically themed hotel room appropriately given by Ashley) would've hit an iceberg and killed us all before the ship even sank, westill would have amused ourselves and took the most from a cloudy, cold, and anti-tourist weekend in one of France's largest cities. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't help but think of Modest Mouse's Dashboard to sum up the kind optimistic mindset we had throughout our most excellent adventure. (I have provided access to the video above)

To give the world a little geographical context, please look below:

It took about three hours to get there early yesterday morning, but we made it and safely wandered to our two star hotel. Now, one would think with such great prices on hotel rooms that there would be a lot going on in one of the busiest metropolitan areas in France, right? Well, there was a circus... that opens in two days. There was a wine and cheese tasting tour... that started before we arrived. There are even some pretty sweet chateaux... that we had no idea how to get to. So what we did was hop off a young TGV and walk until we found interesting things!

The Rue along the river- Bordeaux, France

In our 27 hours in Bordeaux, we managed to visit at least four Gothic churches, encounter more than one hundred pieces of littered dog poop, and experience one magnificent view of the city that only our bird friends get to experience on a daily basis.









In the beginning, I must admit, with the clouds and the unseasonably cold climate, I expected Bordeaux to be a nightmare. Team Q-KAPS found ourselves lost in an unknown city surrounded by really sketchy establishments who kept their garbage in the streets. Funnily enough, we ended up finding the most interesting things from the citizens. Political movements from youth came in the form of large cardboard placards in one of the city's squares, and outcries of reform came from grafitti on some of the most sacred monuments in Bordeaux.

Bordeaux itself is known for many things, including its wine and its well prepared duck (which we had the opportunity to taste) but also some rich history, which unfortunatley, we learned nothing about do to the untimeliness of our travel. I would love to go back in the spring with some preplanning or read the wikipedia article to fully appreciate the city and all of it's splendor.

Our short and sweet voyage was, in short, very french. Today, we closed our journey with a trek up and down town to find the museum of contemporary art. There we got some insight on what goes on in the minds of some very postmodern thinkers of Europe and North America. The location inspired me to create the following short series entitled: "People Looking at Art: Modern Photography of Contemporary Artviewers".

1. Ashley

2. Paisley

3. Sara

4. Keith

 Yeah, I'm pretty proud of it, too. There are more, but I haven't completley worked them into the collection yet. I must say though, that my work doesnt really fit in with the mission statement of the museum of contemporary art in Bordeaux. However, I do happen to have a vital prerequisite to achieving a spot among the greats:

 Though I'm pretty sure that I will never step foot into the Hotel Stars, I am certain I will never forget it, for this weekend was a different type of fun -- full of close bonding, knowledge of new places, and most of all, a better understanding of the wide world we live in.

Traveling Quincy

For the dashboard may have melted, but we still have the radio.